Started in 2011 as a therapy for my Dysthymia, this blog has taken so many twists and turns along the way! Current project is Perry Miniatures Desert Rats & Afrika Korps along with the Travel Battle set.

Saturday, 17 September 2016

Bolt Action 2nd edition & FIW shots.

My copy of 2nd Edition Bolt Action was delivered earlier this week, I seem to have been one of the lucky ones having pre ordered back in early August, as the first print run has already sold out and Warlord are taking pre orders for a second printing. The demand has clearly taken Warlord by surprise. It is typical of modern rule sets, hefty hard back packed with colour pictures and well printed on quality paper. I have had an initial read through and the tweaks and changes seem reasonable enough to me. I suppose the biggest change is the use of blast templates for High Explosives, which come in 4 sizes, 1", 2", 3" & 4" according to the weapon firing. There has been lot's of controversy on the Warlord BA forum about this change, but personally I think it's for the better and quite simple to play. For £30.00 it would have been nice if the plastic template set could have been included with the book (as they are in the new 'Band of Brothers' starter set), OK so I got a free 'Patton' figure, but would have rather had the templates. All in all I think the use of the templates will tone down the effect of HE, which was a little too powerful in the first edition.

I note that light machine guns, as carried in my German infantry squads have had the range increased to 36", same as MMG's, and given the extra dice added to MG's makes them more realistically useful for pinning down enemy infantry. Still many complaints about the points cost of LMG's but I don't concern myself too much with that, as most German squads late war included an MG42 in LMG mode then it's realistic to include them.

I won't go into detail here of all of the many small tweaks in V2, but overall the game is still very much as it was, playable and fun. A couple of tweaks I can see include an 'At full strength' rule, where squads of 10 to 12 men can re roll any failed order tests until the point it takes it's first casualty. Squads marked with a Down order now get a -2 modifier instead of -1 when rolling to hit, that additional modifier can make a big difference. The Rally order is now more effective, as a unit with such an order will now rally a D6 + 1 pins, making the option of halting a squad to rally more effective as you will always rally (remove) a minimum of 2 pin markers. There is also now 'Dense Terrain' which addresses the previous issues re shooting into woods and LoS.

The new book also includes an additional army list for the Japanese, as well as German, US & British.

I need to play a game to see how the changes work in practice, but I don't see any problems as read.

Painting.
Not got a lot done but did manage to finish off a Soviet SU - 76 self propelled gun to add to my collection, this is a resin and metal model purchased on eBay for £15.00 assembled and undercoated, cosy new would be £23.00. I note that Warlord AFV models do not command a great price on eBay, probably due to there being so much available so you can grab the odd bargain. I also have a second M3 US half track to paint at some time, again an eBay bargain. What I would like to be able to add at some stage is two of the 'Deuce' two and a half ton trucks in resin and metal as transports for a couple of squads, they are wonderful models.

Soviet SU 76 waiting on decals.

Borrowed from the Warlord web site.

French & Indian Wars.
I have been trying to find the time to get some shots of all of my FIW stuff together. This morning being overcast and windy I made the effort to do it! Everything is now sitting in multi figure bases (Warbases 2p slots) which certainly makes the job easier. I might add a few more figures at a later date, but for the time being I'm refocusing on Bolt Action and getting to grips with the changes.

Lots of pics, slightly overlit! Wanted to show all of the types including the wagons. The 'loose' figures are my command and character pool for Sharpe Practice.

A massive THANK YOU to John at Kingscolours Painting Service for his help in putting this collection together so quickly, I'd say 70% of the below is his work and very fine it is too.

Canadian Militia to front. Grenadiers and regular line behind.

A lovely Front Rank command figure, I'd say these are around 90% Front Rank, the rest being Warlord.

French Grenadiers.

These are the 'French' Indian allies, note the looted British jackets on some.

'British' Indian allies, and Americans to right of them.

British Light infantry skirmishers.

Rogers Rangers to front.

Grenadier company.

'Jersey Blues' American Loyalists.

British 'Hatmen' companies at rear.

More British command and character figures.

Added the artillery and wagons to front.

Some of the Warlord 'Mohican' box set. Can be used as scouts or characters.

Great looking FIW armies and the wagons have come out really well, I've picked up an SU76 I'm looking forward to working on it, on the subject of us trucks rubicon have just released a couple of different army trucks in1/56 and they do a 3pack deal that seems reasonable, I keep being tempted by their T34/85! Best Iain

Thanks for the comment. I have a plastic Warlord T34/85 that has been sitting made up and undercoated in a box for 6 months (I already have two painted up but wont do BA Tank War now). If you could use it you would be most welcome to it as a gift?

Hi Lee, that's very kind of you and if you are sure I'd be delighted to have it, my email is caveadsum1471@yahoo.com and my address is 26 Raynham Street Hertford SG13 7DF, if you could include your address I can send a cheque to cover postage when I'm back in the country December /January also be useful in case I come across something I might think you can use and pretty much no one spells my name right anyway! Best Iain

Going back to the English Civil War

This is the title of my other blog dedicated to painting armies of the ECW using Hinchiffe 25mm castings. I'm attempting to recreate the figures I owned over 30 years ago, the old range has been given a new lease of life by Ian Hinds of Hinds Figures Ltd and the figures are crisp and sharp just as I remember them.